2. Key Text
“ ‘Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God,
believe also in Me.
In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not
so, I would have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come
again and receive you to Myself; that where I am,
there you may be also’ ”
John 14:1–3
3. “Let not your heart be
troubled; you believe in
God, believe also in Me.
In My Father’s house are
many mansions; if it were
not so, I would have told
you. I go to prepare a
place for you. And if I go
and prepare a place for
you,
, and receive you
to Myself; that where I
am, there you may be
also.” (John14:1-3)
Jesus promised He
would come again
almost two thousand
years ago. Today, we
must be ready to
answer several
questions about the
Second Coming:
Is His Coming certain?
Why is He coming?
How will He come?
When will He come?
How should we wait for Him?
4. Humans have
an innate
repulsion
toward death
because we
were created
only to live and
never to die.
Death is an
intruder; it was
not meant to
be.
That’s why, during His earthly ministry, Jesus showed immense sympathy
toward the bereaved. When He saw the widow of Nain taking her only son
to the grave, “He had compassion on her and said to her, ‘Do not weep’ ”
(Luke 7:13, NKJV). To a heartbroken father of a 12-year-old girl who had
just died, Christ consoled him, saying: “ ‘Do not be afraid; only believe’ ”
(Mark 5:36, NKJV). Every time death strikes our loved ones, Jesus is
tenderly moved by our grief. His compassionate heart weeps with us.
The son of the
widow of Nain
The daughter of
the principal of
the synagogue
5. But Christ does far more than weep. Having conquered death with His own
death and resurrection, He owns the keys of death, and He promises to raise
everyone who believes in Him to eternal life. This is, by far, the greatest promise
that we have been given in God’s Word; otherwise, if death has the final say, our
whole lives and everything we have ever accomplished will be in vain.
6. “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen,
to the glory of God through us.” (2 Corinthians 1:20)
7. God kept every promise he
made to Israel. Jos. 21:45;
1K. 8:56.
The promised of the
incarnation was kept.
Psalm 40:7;
Heb. 10:5-7.
Jesus kept His promise of bringing
Jairus’ daughter back to life.
Luke 8:50; Luke 8:54-55.
He promised He would rise
from the grave. Mat. 16:21;
Mat. 28:5-6.
He promised the
Holy Spirit would
come to His disciples.
Acts 1:8; Acts 2:4.
He promised He would
come again… and He will
absolutely do so!
“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen,
to the glory of God through us.” (2 Corinthians 1:20)
8. “For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His
angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.” (Matthew 16:27)
The Second Coming
has three main
objectives:
1. To do justice. Matthew 16:27.
2. To resurrect the saints that passed away.
1 Thessalonians 4:16.
3. To gather all the redeemed to live with Jesus
forever. 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
9. Suddenly, “as the
lightning comes.”
(Mt. 24:27)
Unexpectedly, “as a
thief in the night.”
(1Ts. 5:2)
Visibly, “every eye
will see Him.”
(Rev. 1:7)
Audibly, “with the
voice of an archangel,
and with the trumpet
of God.” (1Ts. 4:16)
Accompanied by “all
the holy angels.”
(Mt. 25:31)
With royal authority, as
the “KING OF KINGS AND
LORD OF LORDS.”
(Rev. 19:16)
Powerfully, “the
dead will be
raised
incorruptible, and
we shall be
changed.”
(1Co. 15:52)
10. “But of that day and hour no one knows, not
even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.”
(Matthew 24:36)
Jesus didn’t tell us
the date of His
Coming. He instead
told us the events
that would happen
before it. See
Matthew 24, Mark
13 and Luke 21.
False messiahs.
Wars and rumors of wars.
Pestilences, famines and
earthquakes.
The saints being persecuted.
False prophets.
Lawlessness abounds.
Love grows cold.
The Gospel is preached all over the
world.
The sun and the moon are darkened.
The stars are shaken.
The sign of the Son of Man appears.
11. The most important idea Jesus
wanted to impress on the disciples’
minds was that His coming is near.
In a real sense, the Second Coming
is never farther away than a
moment after our death. We close
our eyes in death and, whether one
year has passed or one thousand
years have passed, the next thing
we know is the second coming of
Jesus. For each of us, individually,
His coming is never more than a
moment after we die.
12. “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the
hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” (Matthew 25:13)
By repenting and by confessing our
unconfessed sins to Jesus, by
renewing our faith in His expiatory
death on the cross for us, and by
surrendering our wills totally to
Him. Walking in communion with
Him, we can enjoy the deep peace
of being covered by His robe of
righteousness.
How can we be
ready today?
Jesus insisted on the need to be ready for His Coming,
“But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”
(Matthew 24:13)
13. “We know not the precise time
when our Lord shall be revealed
in the clouds of heaven, but He
has told us that our only safety
is in a constant readiness—a
position of watching and waiting.
Whether we have one year before
us, or five, or ten, we are to be faithful to our
trust today. We are to perform each day’s
duties as faithfully as though that day were to
be our last.”
E.G.W. (That I may know Him, December 18)
